A Christmas Carol
by pixie2010
Summary: When Sharpay is feeling anything but the Christmas spirit, it might take a few unexpected vistors to change her mind. Charles Dickens' classic tale, High School Musical style.
1. Not This Year

A Christmas Carol

East High School could not be more ready for the holidays. The lost-and-found overflowed with gloves and woolly scarves, a wreath of holly hung festively over each classroom door, and the suspiciously prop-like fountain on the school lawn was now adorned with icicles and drifts of snow.

Even Ms. Darbus was in a cheery mood. "Congratulations, students, I think we've all earned the next two weeks off! I hope that you will spend this winter vacation exploring your inner selves, delving deep into the inner muses of humanity which are so movingly portrayed through theater…and as for the pranksters who egg nogged my house last year, this time I've invested in a taller electric fence!"

Sharpay sighed. This whole joyful spirit thing was not her cup of peppermint tea. Usually she and Ryan spent a few days of winter break visiting their aunt in New York City and took in a Broadway musical.

Or six.

But what reason did Sharpay have for holiday cheer? She was no longer the star of every East High production - not since Little Miss Montez showed up. And with Troy Bolton taken, Sharpay knew she would never fully rule the school as she had once dreamed of doing. So there would be no merry Christmas for her. Not this year.

As Ms. Darbus sauntered out of the auditorium, the students followed suit and began gathering their things to leave.

"Excuse me, just where do you think you're going?" Sharpay snapped.

Uneasy glances were exchanged. Finally, Kelsi was the first to speak up.

"It's 4:00. We've done enough work for today, haven't we?" The other members of the drama club nodded supportively.

"People, we have _six weeks_ till opening night. I want this to be the best winter musical ever. And that means everyone had better get back to work," the more forceful Evans twin insisted.

"Come on, Sharpay, it's the last day of school," pleaded Ryan.

"Technically, school is over," Kelsi pointed out before she was silenced by a nasty look from Sharpay.

Suddenly Coach Bolton barged into the auditorium.

"Troy, what are you still doing here? Ski trip, remember? Our plane leaves tomorrow morning, and you still need to pack."

All at once, the other students began mumbling excuses about how they had other things to do as well.

"Okay!" Sharpay shouted, hands on her hips. "Anyone who's too busy with their little holiday preparations to care about our school musical, leave now."

The auditorium cleared out in under three minutes.

Sharpay ran out into the hall desperately, Ryan close behind. A smile crept up on her face. She had found who she was looking for.

"Troy! Gabriella!" she said sweetly, stepping between them. The pair raised their eyebrows at each other in a subtle manner. "I'm sure you guys would love to stay and help. You wouldn't let me down, would you?"

Perfect. She knew these two would come in handy one day.

Hesitantly, Gabriella spoke at last. "I need to go help out at a charity dinner for my mom's company. Sorry, Sharpay."

The platinum blonde frowned, then turned towards Troy with a candy-coated smile. "What about you?"

"I…really have to go pack," Troy said gently. Together they walked off at a quick pace to avoid seeing her disappointment.

The drama queen was less than ecstatic. "Fine, then. If everyone's so wrapped up in the holidays, who needs them? Ryan and I can handle it ourselves. Right Ryan?"

The boy stared at her blankly. "Actually, I think I'm gonna go too." He made off after the other teenagers faster than Rudolph on steroids.

Now alone in an empty hallway, Sharpay kicked the nearest locker. "Some friends they are," she raged. Stupid no-good holidays. What was the point? As if she needed an excuse to buy gifts for herself.

"Sounds like somebody could use a dash of Christmas spirit!" a feminine voice spoke from behind her. Sharpay whirled around in full karate stance. "Who's there?"

In response a petite, brown-haired figure emerged from the end of the hall. Though she looked familiar, she was oddly dressed in a plain, shoulderless white gown.

"Kelsi? You weren't wearing that a minute ago."

The figure laughed. "Wrong again. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past."

"But you look just like-"

"Silence!" the figure ordered.

Now Sharpay was convinced; there was no way Kelsi could be this bossy. The mysterious girl crossed her arms. "Let's not make this any harder than we have to, 'kay? I am here to teach you about the true meaning of the holidays and all that good stuff."

Sharpay eyed her suspiciously. "How do I know you're really a ghost? I mean, the guys at the A/V lab are pretty good with visual effects-"

"I like your necklace," the ghostly specter interrupted. With no visible effort whatsoever, the blonde's crown-shaped pendant snapped off her neck and landed neatly in the palm of the other's hand.

"Cool. Wait, can you turn people into toads?" Sharpay inquired.

"Only during the off-season," the ghost that shared Kelsi's appearance answered casually. Next she conjured up a thin, sharp, metal object and held it out to Sharpay. "Here. You must prick your finger with this needle."

Sharpay cringed. "Couldn't I take a bite of a poison apple instead-"

"Do it!"

Sharpay obediently brushed her finger against the tip of the needle. She was overwhelmed with an acute, painful sensation that transported her to a memory of long ago…


	2. Past

_Sharpay obediently brushed her finger against the tip of the needle. She was overwhelmed with an acute, painful sensation that transported her to a memory of long ago…_

Snow fell in large white flakes over the backyard.

"Where are we?" Sharpay breathed. Ahead of her, a family of four was crossed the long, winding driveway. The adults led the two younger ones by the hand. One child had blue eyes while the other's were a hazel hue. Both of them had yellowish gold hair.

"Stop it, Ryan!" the woman scolded mildly. "How many times have we told you not to eat the yellow snow?"

The little boy pouted, but released the handful of powdery snow in his hand. The other child, a short girl in a green dress, laughed. "It's okay, Ryan. You can have all the snow you want when we're rich and famous stars."

"I remember this," Sharpay said softly. "It's the night of my first grade Christmas program. Ryan was an elf and I…I was a dancing Christmas tree."

Kelsi-specter-girl nodded. Sharpay walked over to the window and watched the family enter their house.

"I was the best Christmas tree up there, wasn't I, Mommy?" the young Sharpay was saying proudly.

The woman smiled. "Yes, but it was wrong for you to push that other girl out of the way, dear."

"She didn't deserve to be front and center!" Sharpay protested. "She has stumpy ankles, and her rhythm was way off."

The ghost gave teenage Sharpay a meaningful look.

"What? Give me a break, I was six! And that girl really did have stumpy ankles," she added in her defense. The two turned back to the scene playing out in front of them.

The other Sharpay's eyes lit up as she was struck with a brilliant idea. "Mommy, can we open presents?"

"Not till Christmas morning, Sharpay."

"Pretty pretty pretty please?"

"Oh, all right. But only a few each."

Ryan jumped with glee and picked up a shiny package.

"I've got it!" Sharpay snatched the box from her brother and began ripping the paper off.

"Shar_pay_!" Ryan whined. "That present is for both of us. See? 'Ryan…and…Sharpay.'" He pointed at the words on the label for emphasis.

Sharpay ignored him. "Ooh, it's a karaoke machine. It's just what I - _we_ - needed!" She picked up a smaller package and tossed it to Ryan. "Here, this one's for you."

The package was from an estranged uncle. Ryan opened it and discovered a black and white hat. The hat was much too big for him, but he donned it anyway. "How do I look?" Ryan asked Sharpay.

She grinned. "Like a star, of course!" The boy beamed.

The next few moments Ryan spent rummaging for something placed on top of the fireplace mantle, while little Sharpay admired the ornaments on the artificial evergreen tree - or at least, the ornaments she had made herself.

"Okay, I've learned my lesson, Kels- I mean, Ghost of Christmas Past. I shouldn't be mean to other people, even if I _am_ better than them. And now I remember how Ryan developed his weird passion for lemon snow cones . So can we go back now?" the almost-fully-grown Sharpay demanded.

"No," the ghost replied sternly. She motioned for Sharpay to keep watching.

The house was aglow with light from the fire. Sharpay could almost feel the embers warming her face, just as she had experienced so many years ago.

Six-year-old Ryan tapped his twin sister on the shoulder. "This is for you." He held out a small, rectangular object wrapped messily in tissue paper.

"Oh, Ryan, you got me the Disney sing-along CD I wanted-" Suddenly Sharpay's face fell. Instead of a CD she had found a popsicle stick picture frame glued to a rather unflattering picture of herself with Ryan.

"I wanted to get you something from your wish list, only I didn't have money and the guy at the CD store said he didn't take the good behavior tokens we get from school. So I made this for you instead. It's painted pink 'cause that's your favorite color and it's got all sorts of shiny things on it since you like glitter and it smells like gingerbread because you're always stealing the cookies from the jar and do you like it?" Ryan blabbed in true six-year-old fashion.

But to his horror, Sharpay threw the picture frame at the fireplace and screamed, "Ryan, how could you? You know I don't like that picture of me! Can't you ever do anything right?" She stalked off haughtily, leaving her brother in distress.

"I don't remember this part," the Sharpay of 2006 mumbled.

Ryan watched his hard work slowly start to char beneath the crackling flames. Ever so softly, he began to cry.

Sharpay banged her fist against the frosty windowpane. "Ryan, I'm sorry!"

"He can't hear you," the Ghost of Christmas Past interjected. "To him you're nothing but a ghost, like me."

The drama queen turned on her accomplice. "You! Why are you doing this to me? So I've made a few mistakes, it's not like I meant to hurt anybody. Can't you at least take me home?"

The ghost shook her head sadly. "Yes, but that's all I can do for you. The truth fades into memories; it doesn't go away. And until you learn the true meaning of the holidays, it will continue to haunt you."

With this prophetic warning and a flourish of the hand, Sharpay was back at East High School and the Ghost of Christmas Past was gone.


End file.
